PREVIEW: YEOVIL TOWN V PORT VALE

Yeovil Town are back in Sky Bet League One action this coming Saturday for the penultimate time.

The match at Huish Park kicks off at 3pm as Port Vale are the final visitors to Somerset this season.

Yeovil are coming off the back of an impressive run of results since Paul Sturrock took over with two wins and a draw in the league and a successful navigation in the Somerset Premier Cup semi final.

Tuesday’s win over Bridgwater came off the back of two wins over League One play off contenders.

1 – 0 victories against both Swindon and Sheffield United showed that no-one at Huish Park is taking their foot off the pedal despite impending relegation.

New boss Sturrock has once again promised to make a couple changes to the side that won last time out in order to make sure everyone available gets a chance to impress the new gaffer ahead of a summer of change.

The best news surrounds the return to training of club captain Joe Edwards, Jakub Sokolik and Adam Morgan.

All three are back in fitness training, but only Edwards is now back in full contact training with the rest of the squad.

Edwards has been missing for a while, so to expect him to come straight back in and play 90 minutes could be asking a bit much, but don’t be surprised to see him involved in the match day squad.

That still leaves Simon Gillett and Kevin Dawson on the rehab road, but goalkeeper Chris Weale is now back and raring to go.

Weale played in the Somerset Premier Cup win on Tuesday and will be challenging Artur Krysiak for some league minutes between now and the end of the season.

The SPC win not only ensured an extra 90 minutes will be added on to the season for people to show their credentials, but also saw Fergus Bell notch his first and second goals in a Yeovil shirt.

Bell, whose brace was added to by a single James Hayter goal, is yet to make a competitive appearance for the Glovers and will be hoping to get some minutes before the season ends.

Saturday’s opponents, Port Vale come to Somerset looking over their shoulders with a gap of just four points between them and the League One trap door.

With two games to go they only need a point to ensure their third division status, but they are also rock bottom of the form table.

Three consecutive draws, against Preston (2-2), Scunthorpe (1-1) and MK Dons (0-0) have seen them keep their heads above water but a run of six straight defeats before that haven’t helped the Vale cause.

That statistic can be extended to say that Vale have only won just once since the end of February, a high scoring 3-2 win over Coventry.

Vale will be without stalwart defender Richard Duffy for Saturday’s fixture, he was sent off against Preston in the last game.

Another key man who will be absent for Vale is talented winger Byron Moore, he suffered a groin strain a month ago and hasn’t been seen since.

When the sides met earlier this season, the Valiants came out on top in an impressive 4-1 win.

The game was 3-0 to the home side by half time, Tom Pope getting two of the early goals.

Only a second half consolation from Aaron Martin gave the Glovers fans anything to cheer about.

However, before this season the games have gone far more in the green and white’s favour.

The last meeting was back in 2008, the sides played out a 2-2 draw with Andy Kirk and Gary Dempsey getting Yeovil’s goals.

The last time the two teams met at Huish Park a single Justin Cochrane goal was enough to secure all three points for Yeovil.

The final Huish Park game of the season is upon us and as usual, the match will be followed by the annual awards ceremony, a host of trophies will be handed out from local organisations as well as celebrating the best young player and top scorer.

So hang around after the game, not only to watch the gongs handed out, but also to wish the squad well going into the off season.

You can be here at Huish Park this Saturday by securing your ticket in all the usual ways; call the ticket office, pop down in person or click HERE and buy your tickets online.

Sturrock’s reign has got off to a flying start and your support could be the extra 10% the players need to really go into next year with momentum.

Talking of next season, the details for all the prices for 2015/16 including the season ticket details can be found HERE.

One final link – click HERE to read all about the fun day at Huish Park to welcome home the YTFC Cycle crew from their charity bike ride from Paris!

Finally (I mean it this time), a huge ‘Thank You’ to all the Yeovil Town supporters who have been through the turnstiles at Huish Park this season. We’ll see you back here next season.